Fuel heater for internal-combustion engines



A ril 1927. v 1,623,441

5 H. E. RHOADS FUEL HEATER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed Feb. 10,1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 17/8 I 27 I2 v 1 y 1 ll H 23 5 Z INVENTOR. -Ha/v'y fi/waa's A ril 5, 1927..

1,623,441 H. E. RHOADS FUEL HEATER FOR INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINES Filed Feb. 10, 1919 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR. Harry 5 fifiaaas ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 5, 1927.

El RHOADS, 0F TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNOB TO' THE WILLYS-OVERLAND COM PANY, or TOLEDO, omen oonronnrron or 0310.

FUEL HEATER FOR'INTERNALPCOMBUSTION- ENGINES.

Application filed February 10, 1919,. SeriaINo. 276,124.

This invention relates to an improved fuel; heater for internal, combustion engines, comprising a manifold construction having; theparts so arranged that the fuel mixture is heated, by contact with a portion of the exhaust manifold carrying the combustion products; 7

One object of the invention is to provide a device of this character, wherein the parts are so arranged as to give a more uniform; quality to-the fuel mixture, r

Another o'h'ect oi. the invention is to provide; an improved method of controlling andv vaporizing the mixture for an. internal: com bustion engine; before admitting it to thecylinders'thereot. i

7 A furtherobject of the invention is to provide a device of thisv character wherein. the heavier portions of the fuelmixture are brought into more intimate contact with the heating surface of the exhaust maniiold than the lighter and more volatile portions thereof.

A further object of the invention. is to provide device of thisv character which is 0t simple construction and efiicient in opera-- tion.

Further objects of this invention relate to economics of manufacture and details of. construction, as will hereinafter; appear from the detailed; description to follow.

The objects oif'the invention are-accomplished in; one instancev by the devices and: means described .in the following specification, but it is evident that the same: may be varied widely without departing from: the scope ot'the invention as pointed out in the appended claims;

A structure constitutingone embod ment of the invention, which may be the preferred, is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing forming a part hereof, in whichz- Figure l is a side elevation view of an" internal combustion engine of the type ordinarily employed for use upon antomo bil'es, illustrating the" fuel supply passage and its relation to'the exhaust manifold.

Figure 11 is a top plan view oi the; ex-

haust manifold, illustrating the relative position with respect thereto of the fuel supply vpassage.

F'gure III is a side elevational. Vi w of the exhaust manifold,. with a'pnrtiitin'of the:

fuel. supply passage shown in section for trating the form, and relative location of the the purpose of l')etter illustrating its rela-.

passages through which the fuel, is conducted tothe intake opening in the cylinder casing, It. has been found to be particularly de- Sll'Ztblfilll the use of kerosene or low grade gasoline asa fuel, toempl'oy some meansfor.-

lieatingthe gaseous fuel after it leaves the carburetoiy'sons to render it moreefiicient in developing power.

are subjected to a greater extent to the heating:- action of the exhaust. manifold than the lighter and more volatile portions thereof the present arrangement of conduct ng pas sages 1semployed.

- Inthe embodiment of the invention illus; i

head casing otthe engine. The various branches 12 of the exhaust manifold con.-

verge into a common trunkl3,whicli is provided with a shoulder 14, adapted to be bolted or otherwise suitably secured to one end of the mufller (not shown); The exhaust manifoldis secured to the engine casing in any suitable manner, it being illustrated in the present instance as being provided with, a plurality of projecting stems.

15, preferably ar rangedhin pairs, each pair being adapted for engagement by the oppositje ends of ahead plate 1 6,which is in turn adapted, to be seemed: to the engine casing by means; or a bolt 1.? projecting from, the

enginecasing and passing through the central portion oi the-"head plate, and securedinplace by .aV-nnt 1 8 wh ch is adapted to bear against the outer'portion'of the correspondinghead The main tuel pipe 20, eonnects. the carbureto 21 with a r' eof f pply (nQtsh W-n), an is' a ap to; ei upp rtedi by" a bearing 22; That portion the "fuel;

taken upon,

In order to accomplish: this resultin-such a manner as: to produce a substantially uniform mixture, and to insure that the heavier portions of the fuel supply pipe lying between the carburetor and the engine casing and forming a passage for the fuelmixture is preferably cast integral with the exhaust manifold and is ,provided at one extremity with a coupling portion 23, adapted to be secured to the carburetor by means of bolts or other. suit able fastening means 24. A spacing collar .25. for carrying a throttle valve-may bein' 10.

terposed between the coupling portion 23 and the correspondingend ofthe-carburetor P casing to which the frame is adapted to be I connected. That portion of the fuel supply passage extending between the carburetor fend the engine casingand designated by the numeral 19 is provided at the opposite extremityfrom the c0llar23 with a shoulder .i 27 adapted to fit against the intake opening ofthe engine casing lIlSllCll a manner as to .20

place the fuel supply passage 19 in free communication thereof. j j The portion. 19 of the fuel supply pipe is shown surrounding oneportion of the exhaust manifold 11 between two branch portions 12 and'the common trunk 13, being positioned at substantially-right angles to the longitudinal axis of the same, and the 1 portion 19 of the fuel supply pipe takes a sharp bend at the point Where it surrounds the branch 12.0f the exhaust manifold, so

' that the portions of the fuel supply passage extending in: opposite direction from the portion 12 of the exhaust manifold make an 1 angle of considerablyless than 180 with respect to each other. v'lhat portion of the fuel supply passage which is adjacent the i carburetor is indicated by the reference character 28: upon the drawing, while that i portion of h f upp y pipe nearest the' enginecasing is designatedby 29. -A bafiie 30f is provided within the fuel su'pplypassage at a point near .wherethe passage is enlargedfor the purpose of embracing the bra'nch12 of the exhaust manifold. A pair ofbranch passages'31 and 32 are formedln a the fuel supply passage due to the construction bywhich it embraces the branch 12 of the exhaust manifold. It will be noted Iupon reference to Figure IV that the passage 31 is of considerably greater length than the passage 32, and is also narrowed throughouta portion of its lengthto a less if L width than the passage 32.

As the incoming gp'ses pass through the portion 28 of the fuel supply passage, they strike against :the baflie 30 and, tend to be come'defiectedinthe direction of thefull pass through the turn than the passage 31 on branching from be the-main passage 28,. and that centrifugal: force acting uponthe fuel particles passing that portion: of the baffle 30.,fnearest the tubular passage 28, will tend to throw the heavier particles of fuel outwardly and into the passage 31 having the greater vaporizing power, while the. lighter and more volatile portions of the gaseous fuel are influenced to a greater extent by the suction of the intake passage than the heavier portions thereof, and are consequently drawn within the branch passage 32, as shown by the dotted line arrow, immediately after passing the baffle 30. It will be observed that the branch passage 31 is in contactwith the heatedsurface of thebranch 12 of the exhaustmanifold during'a considerably great- Iis' narrowed throughout a portion of its length so that the gases carried there through come in closer contact with the heated. portion 12 of the exhaust manifold than those carried by the passage 32. From i i this construction it results that the heavier 1 portions of the gaseous fuel, which are defiected so as to pass through the branch passage 31 will be subjected to the influence of the heat emanating from the exhaust manitreated in such a manneras to tend to vaporize particularly those portions which are heavier and less volatile. tion, means is provided for selectively exposing to a greater degree of vaporizing action the heavier portion of the gaseous fuel, while at the same time permitting the lighter portions thereof to pass through the fuel supply passage without being subjected to the same intensity or duration of heat as the heavier portions, thus producing a more uniform fuel as it is passed into the intake passage of the engine casing This arrangement of branched passages contacting with a heated portion of the exhaust manifold and constructed as described above, not only result in securing a more uniform fuel by reason of the subjecting of the heavier portions of the fuel to the vapor-- i'zing action of .the heated surface to a great er extent than the more volatile portion thereof, but also improve the quality of all of the fuel by exposing it to a greater or less degree to the vaporizing action of the ythis construcheated surface, thus breaking up the usual low grade fuel so as to render it more efficient as a motive force. 7

While I have shown and described in con- 7 invention broadly as well as specifically.

What I claim as'new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a fuel vaporizing device, an ex haust pipe, a fuel inlet conduit having two branches each partially surrounding said exhaust pipe, one being arranged to traverse a greater portion of the exhaustpipe than the other, whereby to provide passages of different vaporizing power, said conduit being so shaped as to cause the heavier particles of the fuel by centrifugal action to traverse the passage having the greater vaporizing power when suction is produced in said passages.

2. In a fuel heating structure, an exhaust manifold, a fuel supply passage contacting with the exterior surface of a portion of the exhaust manifold and having a pair of branch passages, one of said passages being in contact with the exterior surface of the exhaust manifold throughout a greaterportion of its length than the other and being more nearly aligned with the path of the entering fuel.

3. In a fuel heating structure, an exhaust manifold, a fuel supply passage contacting with a portionv of the exterior surface of the exhaust manifold and having a pair of branch passages of unequal width for admission, of the fuel, and means for deflecting the heavier portions of the fuel through the narrower passage while permitting the lighter portions of the fuel to be drawn through the wider passage.

4. In a fuel heating structure, an exhaust .manifold, a fuel supply passage contacting with a portion of the exterior surface of the exhaust manifold and having a pair of branch passages of unequal lengths for admission of the fuel, and means for deflecting the heavier portions of the fuel through the longer passage while permitting the lighter portions to be drawn through the shorter passage.

5. In a fuel vaporizing device, anexhaust pipe, a fuel supply conduit including a pair of branch passages of unequal heating areas, each partly surrounding and contacting with the exterior surface of the exhaust pipe, and a battle within said conduit for deflecting the heavier portions of the fuel into one of said passages and permitting the lighter portions to be drawn into the other passage when suction is produced in said passages.

6. In a fuel vaporizing device, an exhaust pipe,'a fuel supply pipe including divided passages of unequal length each surrounding a portion of said exhaust pipe, and a baflie in the supply pipe for directing the fuel wherebyt-he inertia of theheavierpar ticles of the fuel causes them to traverse the passage of the greater length when suction is produced in said passages.

7. In a suction controlled vaponzmgdevice, a heated conduit, a fuel supply pipe I provided with branch passages having portions thereof contacting wlth unequal por-' tions of the exterior wall of said conduit,

and a battle in the supply pipe for directing the heavier elements of the mixture into one of the passages and Permitting the lighter elements to be drawn into the other passage when suction is produced in said pas-1 sages.

8. In a suction controlled vaporizing device, a heated member, a fuel supp-1y conduit provided with a plurality. of branch passages, each of which extends around a I port-ion ofsaid heated member and one of which has a restricted outlet, and means for directing the heavier particles'of fuel into the passage having the restricted outlet and permitting the lighter particles to be drawn through the other passage when suction is produced therein.

9. In a suction controlled fuel vaporizing device, a heated member, a fuel conduit having divided passages each adapted to parto direct the heavier portions of the fuel through the longer branch, thereby exposing them to a greater extent to the vaporizing effect of the exhaust heat.

11. In a device of the character described, an exhaust manifold, and means providing va fuel passage leading to and around said manifold, said means including a deflector for directing particles of unvaporized fuel against the outer surface of said passage.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature.

HARRY E. sHoADs. 

